College Football Week 6

Our word of the week is:

UPSETS

I am really not sure if upsets on the road even count as upsets anymore. I mean they are still upsets, be we really should not be shocked when it happens. Arkansas straight ran undefeated Auburn and rebuilding Tennessee pounded previously ranked Georgia proving once again just how powerful home-field can be. Oklahoma State, South Carolina, and Kansas all eeked out wins over unranked conference opponents, with South Carolina and Kansas eeking it out at home. Crazy, crazy week to be a ranked team considering how few fell.

Gene Chizik actually impressed me in the second half even though his team was dead to rights. He rallied the troops and managed to make the game at least within the realm of possibility for Auburn. Arkansas still controlled the game, but you could tell Auburn believes in their coach. Neither team is a real SEC contender, but Arkansas once again put up huge numbers, just like they did against Georgia, but were able to hold on this time. Auburn looked pretty anemic for the first half and by the time they decided to turn it on, it was too late.

Georgia rolled into Rocky Top and rolled into a surprisingly potent Tennessee offense. Tennessee has been so bad on offense this year, Lane Kiffin has been accused of still coaching the Raiders, but Jonathan Crompton was more that serviceable through the air and Monterio Hardesty ran through the apparently uninspired Georgia defense. Give Tennessee credit for a really well played game, but don’t forget about the tremendous home-field advantage of the SEC. It is true for other conferences too, but it seems to show up without exception in the SEC.

Alright, time for the game of the night Florida going down to Death Valley to take on LSU. Honestly, this score shocked me. Florida’s defense played like Shawne Merriman any other year: Lights out. LSU could not get anything going even at home at night when they are almost untouchable. All the props in the world to Florida who should start preparing for the SEC title game since they have no other big obstacles left on their schedule. They will probably meet Alabama there, but they probably will not be challenged until then. Everyone thought the talk would be about Tebow, but it was all Florida’s defense. Oh and how about that jersey pull on the TD catch? If you get away with it, hats off to you so you will hear no complaining here. Well done Gators see you in Atlanta for the SEC Championship; otherwise you shouldn’t have any other really risky games.

Michigan v Iowa. Not really sure what to think about this one. Michigan showed its inexperience, and Iowa showed it was good enough to handle an inexperienced team. Michigan put up points on the highly-thought of Iowa defense, and Iowa did what it should against a weak Michigan defense. Honestly, the only thing I walk away from this game with is indifference. Iowa showed it is not truly deserving of the 13th ranking and Michigan showed that when it wakes up for a game it can play pretty well. We already knew both these things. Let’s move on.

Bama dealt with Ole Miss as expected, forcing Jevan Snead into 4 INTs. No real surprises. The Alabama defense is pretty damn good and Ole Miss just does not quite have what it takes to hang with the top teams yet.

TCU showed some heart on the road at the Air Force Academy. I did not personally see the game so I cannot comment on specifics, but it is tough to win on the road no matter where it is. Air Force is not a scrub team so TCU did fairly well for pulling out the win. I am not giving TCU a huge pat on the back for winning a game they should win, but rather a thumb up for not getting tripped up.

Let’s talk Heisman Trophy. Maybe it is a little early, but the early contenders are Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Tony Pike, Jimmy Clausen, andwe will throw in Jacory Harris just for the fun of it. Clausen has a pretty favorable schedule remaining minus USC and they will almost definitely keep chucking it. Tebow is always a contender and Florida should be good enough to lay significant claims to Mr. Stiff Arm. Tony Pike is somewhat of a sleeper, but his Cincinnati Bearcats are tearing it up and doing so behind his right arm. Look up his numbers, they are off the charts. Colt McCoy is the final candidate and probably has the best shot outside of Tebow. As a Notre Dame fan, I am extremely cautious to name Jimmy Clausen a front-runner, but his numbers certainly speak for themselves. Even though Texas has not looked outstanding, I am going to pick Colt McCoy as my Heisman winner at this point in the year. He got the short end of the stick last year as far as championship aspirations and I think he will get his revenge this year in New York when they hand it out.

CLOWN OF THE WEEK: David Stern. Replacement refs? Really? There have been astronomical foul and free-throw numbers so far and it is only going to get worse. Stop being the almighty commissioner that you have come to be known as and get this done. You need your refs more than you would ever care to admit. Get it done.